I love camping, and almost as soon as my baby was born was dreaming about getting him into a tent under the stars. But as a solo mum who doesn’t drive, the logistics of finding a beautiful, natural, safe, and public-transport accessible campsite where I could take my baby and all our gear sometimes seemed impossible. Now with a dozen toddler camping trips in Belgium under our belt, maybe our experiences can help other families.
Keep it simple!
I started as simple as possible and until my son was three, I stuck to a single night of glamping. The tent is pre-pitched so you don’t have to own or carry any gear, and many places will also serve you breakfast to make it super easy. Our favourite spot was “Boomkamp” near Bruges, where the tents and treehouses are pitched in a forest, so you have a private spot among the trees and plenty of space for wild play. Just being outside at night, and lighting a campfire was magical, and we simply took the bus back to Bruges and the train home to Brussels in the morning whenever he was ready to go. I kept all our trips short and was mentally prepared to cancel at the last second in case of bad weather: I wanted him to start with experiences that would lead him to love camping, not to be put off by a rainy or cold camp.
Nature campsites
When we were ready to be a bit more adventurous, campspace.com became my favourite option for hunting down nature sites. It’s like an AirBnB for campsites: there are some commercial campsite advertising but you are mainly pitching a tent on private land. You can even choose a micro-site meaning you will be the only family there. We stayed at sites with large ponds with boats available to use, sites with nature playgrounds set up in the woods, and even a site where you can camp on your own private island, all within a couple of hours of Brussels by public transport on a Sunday. But there are also a lot of random gardens on the website, so it’s worth taking time to browse through a lot of options to find the perfect pitch for your family. Or if your kids are a little bit older, try a “vlotkamp”: tents pitched on rafts floating in the middle of a lake that have to be reached by canoe, this felt like a huge adventure for my son, even though we were just on the outskirts of a normal Flemish town.
Other options
If you would like to test out sleeping in a tent closer to home, the commune of Uccle organises an annual park camp out each summer, the “Nuit au Wolvendael”, which is like a mini-festival for families, with lots of fabulous kids activities all evening and a group breakfast offered by local businesses in the playground when you wake up. Register early though as it sells out fast!
If your kids love animals, try farmcamps.com, where you can filter by the type of animals you want to stay with: want to pitch a tent in a sheep meadow, where the animals will wander around you all night? Or prefer a place with pony rides? Or alpacas to groom? This can be a lot of fun and there are normally plenty of other kids around to play with.
Costs and gear
Campspace is a great budget option if you already have camping equipment, you may pay 10 EUR per night or in some places stay for free. If not, you probably have friends or neighbours or other BCT families who camp or who have kids in scouts and can lend their equipment! A.S. Adventure also has an equipment rental programme if you’d like to test out camping before committing to buying or storing a pile of stuff.
First time campers
If you have never camped before, there are plenty of gentle ways to ease into it. There are lots of options available for places with pre-pitched tents or even tiny cabins, treehouses, or yurts to stay in in Belgium although the price can reach 50 EUR per night or even more depending on the size and the facilities. And don’t feel the need to make the first trip on your own: some scout groups organise family camps, where parents and kids attend together, and where you will have plenty of help to put up your tent and probably group meals organised. Or plan a trip with friends: I organise an annual mums-and-sons camp each summer. It’s been a great way to connect with each other and with our boys, and some of the women would never have imagined taking their son camping on their own otherwise.
Now relax
My son is now five years old, and many of our best experiences together have been on camping trips. He loves the independence, the fact that he can run around freely, and that there are real jobs like fetching water or collecting wood that he is responsible for. For me it’s the fact that there is nothing else for me to do for hours and hours than just be with him. At home I find I am often distracted and always trying to fit in little jobs even when we’re playing (“Yes, I’m coming, I’m just switching the laundry over / putting this in the dishwasher / hanging up this coat”). While camping I am so present with him, there is no schedule to worry about, we can just chat and play and enjoy nature, and I love that so much. I really encourage any families who are considering a camping trip in Belgium this year to try it out!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via the BXLSouth Local group
By Sabina Schlee, Brussels South Local group leader BXLSouth@bctbelgium.org
This article was first published in the 2026 spring edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine.
